Former Vikings Playmaker Hangs ‘Em Up
Long before Aaron Jones was hired to restore Minnesota’s rushing attack, the Vikings employed a scary trio to do that job. Jerick McKinnon was already on the team when the franchise signed Latavius Murray in free agency. Shortly thereafter, Dalvin Cook was added in the draft to build a three-headed monster. Ultimately, Murray had a much bigger role than anticipated at the time of Cook’s selection.
Former Vikings Playmaker Hangs ‘Em Up
Murray now announced his retirement eight years after playing for the Vikings. He’s a rare, durable running back with the ability to surpass a decade of NFL play.
CBS Sports‘ Cody Nagel wrote on Thursday, “Veteran running back Latavius Murray announced his retirement Wednesday after 10 NFL seasons. Murray, 35, spent the 2023 season with the Buffalo Bills, appearing in 13 games as a backup to James Cook. He finished with 300 yards rushing and four touchdowns, primarily serving in short-yardage and pass-protection roles.”
Throughout his career, Murray played for various franchises. To be exact, he was at one point employed by the Oakland Raiders (2013-2016), Vikings (2017-2018), New Orleans Saints (2019-2020 and 2022), Baltimore Ravens (2021), Denver Broncos (2022), and Buffalo Bills (2023). He didn’t play last season and hadn’t found a new employer for the upcoming season, so he called it a career at the age of 35.
Murray, a UCF alumnus, was a sixth-round pick of the then-Oakland Raiders in 2013. That year, the Vikings added Cordarrelle Patterson and Xavier Rhodes. He quickly carved out a role in Oakland, even rushing for 1,066 yards in his sophomore season.
It remains the only time he eclipsed the magic 1,000-yard number in his career. In the following year, however, he found the endzone 12 times, becoming one of the top redzone rushers, using his unusual size of 6’3″ and 230 lbs.
The Vikings then signed him to a two-year contract to take over for Adrian Peterson, pairing him with McKinnon and ultimately Cook. He surely didn’t enjoy the addition of the young rusher. Unfortunately for Cook, the rookie suffered a torn ACL early in the season, and both Murray and McKinnon had to carry more of the load, especially in an offense that suddenly featured Case Keenum.
In 2017, Murray rushed for 842 yards and eight touchdowns. He added another 103 receiving yards, an area that McKinnon dominated. The one-two punch was a big reason for Minnesota’s success that year.
In 2018, Cook returned, and McKinnon left for San Francisco. Murray’s numbers dipped to 578 rushing yards and six touchdowns. After that year, he joined the Saints and then bounced around. He even rushed for over 700 yards in only 12 games for the Broncos as recently as 2022 and recorded 300 yards with the Bills in 2023 (as the league’s oldest back), still looking like a solid backup running back.
On the Vikings’ all-time rushing leaderboard, Murray ranks 25th with 1,420 yards, ranking between 24th Rick Fenney and 26th Toby Gerhart. His 14 touchdowns rank him 20th, right behind Matt Asiata.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.